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Ashmolean Museum

(Oxford)Named after its founder, Elias Ashmole (1617–92), it is the second oldest public museum in Britain (after the *Royal Armouries), having opened its doors in 1683 in what is now the Museum of the History of Science. Its origins lie in the old tradition of the 'cabinet of curiosities', for Ashmole had been left an extensive cabinet by the *Tradescant family. A few specially curious curiosities are still on display – Guy Fawkes' lantern, for example.

The museum moved in 1845 into its present neoclassical building, designed by C.R. Cockerell (1788–1863). The broadly based collection, of outstanding quality, has among its antiquities the major surviving part of the famous Arundel marbles (classical sculptures collected by the earl of Arundel in the 17C) and exceptional material from Cyprus and Crete. The Heberden Coin Room contains more than 300,000 items. There is a broad spectrum of European painting from the Renaissance to the 19C, with a special emphasis on the Pre-Raphaelites. The decorative arts include such treasures as the *Alfred Jewel.